Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device having a menu display function.
Discussion of the Background
There is a device including menu switches that are operated to implement various functions. A menu is made up of a plurality of menu switches and displayed in a display unit. From this menu, a predetermined menu switch is selected using keys such as a cursor key, function keys, and an Enter key on a keyboard and a control panel so as to generate desired data, texts, and programs, for example. Software such as word processing software, presentation material preparation software, and data table preparation software that operate in a PC (Personal Computer) as an example of the device includes a plurality of menus and menu switches described above. As another example of the device, there is a numerical controller (CNC; Computerized Numerical Control) to control a movement amount and a movement speed, for example, of a tool of a machine tool by a computer using numerical values.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 07-78016 discloses a technique concerning menu display of this numerical controller. Specifically, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 07-78016 recites “The operator to operate the numerical controller cannot directly know from the screen a hierarchical structure of menu items (menu switches) having the hierarchical structure. This has caused a problem that unless the operator fully memorizes this hierarchical structure, the operator cannot readily select a target function. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a numerical controller having a menu display function to perform display that facilitates the operator's understanding of the menu hierarchical structure so as to facilitate function selection”.
Consequently, in the technique of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 07-78016, in the numerical controller having a function to display a group of functions of the hierarchical structure as menus, a multi-window environment is used in which the screen is divided into rectangular areas into which figures and texts are output. That is, in the environment in which rectangular areas called windows are displayed, windows can be displayed as if superposed on each other, a window can be displayed on the front, a window can be moved, a window can be erased, and superposition of windows can be changed, for example. In such a multi-window environment, one menu is displayed in one menu window. A menu window displayed on the front is referred to as main menu window. Menu windows other than the main menu window display menus at upper levels and superposed on each other while slightly deviating from each other. As a menu is to the rear, the menu is at an upper level. In this manner, menus at upper levels than a menu currently displayed are displayed in accordance with the hierarchical structure. Also, a mark to indicate existence of menus at lower levels is displayed on the displayed portion. Thus, it is possible to readily understand the menu hierarchical structure.
In this manner, in the numerical controller, one level includes a plurality of menu switches, and such menu switches constitute a plurality of levels. It is noted that in accordance with an increase in high functionality of the numerical controller, the number of levels of menu switches and the number of menu switches at one level tend to increase.